Loveing the Snake
by Jacedracopercyfinnick
Summary: Hermione and Draco are bitter enemies, everyone knows it. But in their fourth year something changes. Will Hermione learn to love the snake or will the lion inside of her destroy their passion? Dramione Fanfiction.
1. Chapter 1: Those Silver Eyes

As her foot touched the ground, Hermione realised how much her life had changed in the past three years. Before Hogwarts she was always a miss fit. Things never seemed to go right for her. Whether it was blowing up a Cola volcano with shear frustration or turning the class pet blue, something was always going wrong in her life and for some reason, she always felt responsible. That was impossible though. How could she be responsible for things like that? When she received her Hogwarts letter everything seemed to fit together. All of the little jigsaw pieces in her life, which had never quite fit together, suddenly fell into place.

Now she set out on her fourth year at Hogwarts and she could only guess what this year had in store for the 'Golden Trio'. Join first year a powerful magical stone with many powers, including the ability to create a potion that can give you immortality, had been hidden in the school. One of the teacher tried to get past the challenges that protected the stone. It was later discovered that he was in fact possessed by the spirit of the darkest wizard ever. This wizard, Lord Voldemort, had killed her best friend Harry's parents and attempted to kill Harry, when he was just a baby. The spell didn't work though and instead Voldemort was killed. The strange thing is, nobody knows why. Harry still remains, to this day, the only wizard ever known to have survived the killing curse. Anyway, Harry, her other friend Ron and herself, went to try and retrieve the stone before he could get it. It ended up with a huge battle between Harry and Voldemort, which Harry won, using the powers of the stone to help him.

Second year went about as well. They had found writing in blood on a corridor wall while walking through the castle towards dinner. It had told them that a legendary chamber, called the Chamber of Secrets had been opened under the school. Soon after, students started to become mysteriously petrified. All of the attacks were blamed on Harry by the other students because he could speak Parceltoung (the language of snakes). Around halfway through the year, another message was left on the wall. It said 'Her body will lay in the chamber forever'. It was quickly worked out that one of the students had been taken into the chamber itself. Ginny Weasely. She was the sister of Ron Weasely, one of Hermione's best friends. Hermione didn't know exactly what happened because she herself had been petrified but she knew that they had defeated the monster of the chamber.

Last year was… Interesting. A mass murderer had escaped form Azkaban (the wizard prison) and was after Harry. Not much happened for the rest of the year (except for Draco being over dramatic and putting a death sentence on a Hippogriff) until they found out that Ron's pet rat was the real criminal and that the prisoner, Sirius Black, wasn't after Harry, he was after the rat, looking for revenge. Then the Defence against the Dark Arts teacher turned into a Werewolf and the rat escaped. Then Harry and Hermione were forced to go back in time to make sure that Sirius was not given the Demeter's Kiss (didn't get his soul sucked out through his mouth.

Hermione was determined that this year would be different. There was no way that they could have another terrible year. Not considering how bad the last three were.

Getting off of the train, she glanced around taking in the extravagance of Hogwarts. Rising above the trees, the ancient turrets stood, seaming to reaching high into the clouds. Gamps through trees reviled the tracks which lead to the castle, now coated with leafs. The carts, as usual pushed themselves up the road, not needing horses.

As she glanced up the train she recognised a few people that she knew. Nevil, the round faced, pink cheeked boy, from her year, gave her a mad wave and a huge grin. Seamus, a sandy haired boy, smiled at her and made a minimal effort in lifting a hand. She followed the length of the train with her gaze, until it met with a pair of icy silver eyes at the opposite end of the train. His eyes seemed to be a window to his soul. Swirling patterns danced in his irises, the mixture of shades played tricks on the mind. Although his eyes looked grey at first, the closer she looked the more colours she could see. Blue, green, purple, black, white and, of course, grey. She stayed there holding his glance for a second, mesmerised by the twisting patterns, before she realise who it was. A clump of white blond hair fell in front of one of his beautiful eyes and a smirk played on his face. She broke away from the stare Draco Malfoy had her trapped in.

What was going on? Had she really just got lost in the eyes of _Malfoy_? Had she really just thought that his eyes were beautiful?

It was Draco Malfoy! The boy who had made her life a living hell for three years. The boy who had never even called her anything but Mudblood. The boy who she had always thought was going to follow in his father's footsteps as a supporter of Voldemort. The boy who-

"Hey!" called Harry. "What are you looking at?"

His question bought her back to reality and she realise that she was staring into space and must have looked like an idiot. "Nothing," she sighed, taking her bags away from Harry and lugging them down the pathway, towards the carts, trying to block her resent thoughts from her head.

As she moved towards an empty cart, she could feel Harry's eyes watching her curiously form behind. She straightened up and tried to ignore it. Wanting to disappear, she threw her bags into the back of the carriage and hopped into the seats of the cart, closely followed by Harry and Ron.

"Anything up, Hermione?" asked Ron wearily. She blinked at this. Could he not see how awkward the situation already was without him asking questions?

Shuffling her feet, she looked down as she mumbled a reply. "No, nothings 'up'."

"You sure?" This time it was Harry. Were all boys blind to awkward situations? It couldn't just be them.

"Yes, I'm sure!" she said, exasperated by her best friend's blindness. They stopped talking for the rest of the gurney. When they finally reached the castle, after what seemed like forever, she stepped out silently, grabbed her bags and walked to the entrance of the crumbling castle that was her second home. She didn't even wait for the boys to catch up, even though they did.

After dumping their bags in the entrance hall, they wandered over to the main hall, for dinner. Even before they reached the door, Hermione could hear the chattering of hundreds of students. As the doors opened, the sight was as over whelming as ever. Four hundred students, seated at four tables according to their house. The houses were Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Her, Harry and Ron were in Gryffindor. She knew people from the other houses. Luna Lovegood, Cho Chang and Padma Patel were in Ravenclaw. Cedric Diggery and Hannah Ballard were in Hufflepuff. And in Slytherin was… Draco Malfoy. She smiled at the name. _Stop that now! _She thought sternly. _Don't smile at that! He's a bully! He's made your life hell! It doesn't matter if he has perfect light hair, or incredible eyes or muscles like steel or a smile that can light up a whole room or- _She cut herself off mid thought. What was happening?!

She followed her friends to the table, trying to work out what was going on. It must be a spell or a potion. Yes, a potion! Maybe a second year tried to give her a love potion and… it went wrong! That must be it! But when would they have given her it. She scowled. Why did she have to be so logical! It was obvious what was going on. She _liked_ him. She, Hermione Granger, had a crush. A crush on Draco Malfoy.

She snook a look at the Slytherin table, looking for the Slytherin Prince. Almost immediately her eyes found those of a pale skinned boy with white-blonde hair, swirling grey eyes and a scowl pressed on his dark pink lips. His perfect lips. A wave of emotion hit her, so strong that she was tempted to stand up, walk across the hall, take his face in her hands and kiss his tempting, gorgeous lips until she couldn't breathe. The pull was so strong that she had to hold onto the table to stop herself from doing it.

She'd never felt that way before. Especially not about him. He was always Malfoy, the cruel bully who had teased her about her smartness, taunted her about her teeth and said horrible things about her hair. He was always Malfoy, the boy who had caused a Hippogriff to be sentenced to death and laughed at it, leading to a good punch in the face, which she was quite ashamed of now. He had never been Draco. Draco, the overwhelmingly perfect, tempting, kissable boy, who she was slightly mad about.

By the time she had gotten her thoughts in order all of the first years had been sorted into their houses and Professor Dumbledore was casting the charm to begin the feast. Suddenly food appeared on the table. Every food you could think of. Next to her, Ron was pilling food onto his plate and Harry was snatching a few items from the bowls around them. She decided to tuck in.

An hour later, Hermione, Harry and Ron were huddled around the fire with Fred and George (Ron's older brothers) and Ginny (his younger sister) chatting and playing chess. It took her mind off of things a bit but her thoughts kept skipping back so Draco. She decided she had to tell someone, but who? Harry and Ron would think she was a traitor to them, crushing on their enemy was betrayal. However, there was one person she could tell. Ginny.

Certain that this was the only option, Hermione tapped Ginny on the shoulder and whispered "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Looking slightly confused, Ginny replied "Of course." Reluctantly she stood up and motioned towards the dormitories. Hermione headed for her bed room.

When she got there, Hermione sat down on her bed. Cautiously she patted the bed next to her.

Sitting down, Ginny asked "So, what's up?"

Unsure how to start Hermione bit her lip. "I'm… worried."

"Why?" asked Ginny, confused.

"I think I'm crushing on someone."

"So?" asked Ginny, even more confused.

"Someone, who I shouldn't be crushing on."

Ginny gasped and then giggled. "I knew it!"

Hermione's eyes widened. "You did?"

"Don't worry! Ron feels exactly the same way!" At the look of discussed on Hermione's face she froze. "It is Ron, right?" Hermione shook her head fast. "Oh. Well then… who is it?"

Looking down, Hermione felt herself blushing. "Well… um… it's sort of…" She trailed off.

"Oh come on! Tell me! You know you can tell me anything!"

Her voice lowered to a faint whisper. "Draco."

Ginny's mouth fell open. "Draco? As in Malfoy?" She nodded, blushing even redder. "OH MY GOD!"

"I know. But I can't stop thinking about him. His eyes. His smile. His laugh. Him." Saying the words out loud made them sound so much more official. Wow. She was in love with him.

"That is the best news I've heard in… I don't even know how long!"

"It is?"

"Of course! When did it start?"

"When we were getting off of the train. He caught my eye and… I got lost in his. I haven't been able to get him out of my head since! And then in the main hall. I saw him and I just wanted to walk over and kiss him. I had to hold onto the table to stop myself from doing it." She recalled, thinking about the events of the past few hours. Looking over at Ginny she saw her jaw drop.

"Oh, Hermione! You're mad about him! It's so sweet!" She said, almost proud.

"Thanks. Now you have to promise not to say a word of this to the boys!"

"Why not?" she asked, confused.

"Do you think that they'll be happy that I have a crush of their worst enemy?"

"Oh, right. Okay, I promise that I won't breathe a word of this to Harry or Ron or anyone else."

"Thank you so much Ginny!" she squeaked, overjoyed, pulling Ginny into a huge bear hug. Suddenly, she froze. "Wait. Ron _likes _me?"

"Oh. Um… yeah. It's kind of obvious, really." At this, Hermione burst into laughter.

"Oh my god! Ron!?" By now, they were both laughing.

"Hey, come on. Let's go back down." Said Ginny, standing up. She started to walk and Hermione followed her down. Wow! It felt so good to share how she was feeling with her best girlfriend.

At the bottom of the stared, Ron turned around and smiled at them. This made Hermione laugh so hard she had to use Ginny for support. The boys looked at her like she was crazy, which, she decided, she might well be.


	2. Chapter 2: Trapped Prey

She woke up with a pounding head. Although her eyes weren't open, she could see exactly what she had dreamed of. Draco. Even though she knew he wasn't there, it comforted her to feel his presence.

At that thought, her eyes shot open. She could remember what had happened the previous day clearly, but she still couldn't believe it. How could it be possible! How could she have gotten a crush on Malfoy! He was Malfoy!

No matter how hard she tried to fight it she let out a sigh at his name. She had never really thought about how nice his name was. Dragon. It summed him up pretty well. Fierce, rough and beautiful. Get on his bad side and you're in trouble but look at him the right way and you can see just how perfect he really is.

With this in her head, she jumped up and began to get ready. She put on the shirt that was slightly too small for her and showed off her curves just right. Unsure of what else to wear she went over to Ginny and shook her awake.

"What?" Groaned Ginny, only half awake.

"I said, 'I need help on what to wear'." She repeated. At this, Ginny sat up strait and giggled.

"Oh right. You want to get Malfoys attention." She giggled, getting up. Thoughtlessly she went over to her suit case, dismissing the idea of using Hermione's. She pulled out a skirt that came to midway across Hermione's thighs.

"How about tights?" asked Hermione, curiously. To that, Ginny through her hand to her head.

"It's no wander you've never had a boyfriend!" she groaned, exasperated. "Why would you wear tights, when you have legs like yours? They're so long and thin! You really need to learn more about boys." She added a pair of black ankle boots with slight heals and brushed her hair out, letting it cascade down past her shoulders.

When they went down stairs the boys were already waiting for them. They turned around to greet them and then… they saw Hermione. Harry looked surprised, like he couldn't believe that she would go against the uniform in that way, or that she had that much leg. Ron, on the other hand, gazed at her admirably, jaw dropped to oblivion. Hermione blushed and heard Ginny whisper in her ear "That's the reaction we want from Malfoy." Hermione let a giggle escape from her mouth at that. Which turned into a laugh when she looked at the boys faces again. If she could get that look on Draco it would make her life complete.

Entering the great hall she scanned the Slythin table for a sign of Draco. When she finally caught sight of him he was looking right at her, jaw dropped, amazed by her. He was as beautiful as she remembered him. But now, maybe he was feeling the same way about her. She let herself smile at the thought and how impossible it was. No way could he feel that way for her so suddenly.

As they sat down, Ginny whispered to her "Now that is how it's done." She had to smile at that, even though it mad her blush madly. "Did you see his face though? That is the face of someone falling for someone."

"No way Ginny, not that quickly." She said. Ginny scowled.

"Yes, that quickly. That's how it started for you. _That quickly!_" She said loudly. Cautiously, Hermione put a finger to her lips, but it was too late, the boys had already heard.

"What started for you?" Pressed Harry, suspiciously. To her relief, Ginny spoke and gave most genius answer ever.

"Do you really want to know what 'started' for a teenage girl?" She asked, arms crossed. Harry froze and shook his head. "Good." To this she gave a grateful smile at her friend.

The first two lessons (Herbology and Care for Magical Creatures) went smoothly; well... with a few slight errors. It was on their way to one of their lessons that things got really interesting.

They were walking through a corridor, when someone stepped in front of them, blocking their path. He turned around and smirked at them.

Somehow, his silver eyes found her hazel ones and locked them in a stare before he broke away. His words were muffled in Hermione's mind. Just the sound of his voice made her heart explode. She saw him hand Ron a piece of paper and then sneer at him. Harry started to shout and pulled out his wand. Grabbing Hermione, they began to walk off.

There was a sudden crack, which made her spin around. Draco was nowhere to be seen. A mad looking old man hobbled over and grabbed the white ferret, which sat were Draco had been stood. With a gasp, she realised what had happened. Mad Eye Moody had transfigured Draco into a ferret! Meanwhile, Mad Eye was levitating him and smashing him against the floor.

At that second, Professor McGonagall stormed in and stopped the whole thing. Hermione felt a wave of gratitude toward Professor McGonagall. Draco was transfigured back. Tears flooded his eyes and a stream of blood gushed from his face. She could see that he was fighting to remain conscious. He dashed away, heading toward the library. Instinctively, she followed him, needing to make sure he was okay. Needing to make him feel better if he wasn't. Needing to hold him in her arms and cry with him until he cared about her, until he wanted her the way she wanted him.

In the library, she followed the sound of sobs until she saw him, huddled in the corner, head on his knees. Without a second though she ran over and sat next to him. She slowly rapped her arms around him, which he didn't resist. Instead, he cuddled into her, burying his face into her hair.

They stayed that way, huddled together, until he stopped crying and pulled away. His face was streaked with tear stains. He smiled at her. It made the whole thing worth it. That one little smile.

"Thanks," he muttered. "I'm not usually one to cry, but I've lost so much lately I couldn't lose my reputation as well."

She nodded understandingly. Why was he explaining it to her? "I know how you feel. I had the same thing in Primary. I had just lost my pet cat, when I got the news of my Granddads death. Then, I was so down that I didn't do my homework for a month and… I got kicked out of Grammar School." She smiled encouragingly at him. Unwillingly, she could feel her eyes fill up with tears.

Then, something happened that she was not expecting at all. He put his cold damp hand on her cheek and whispered "I'm sorry that I used to tease you, Hermione." He had said her name. Slowly, she place her hand on top of his.

"That's okay, Draco." He looked shocked that she had said his name. Tilting his head, he looked at her more closely.

"You're so beautiful. How come I never noticed before?" Her heart skipped a beat. He just called her beautiful. Nobody had ever called her beautiful. Before she could stop herself, she leant in and pressed her lips carefully on his. She wasn't sure how to do this. His lips were hard at first which almost made her brake away, but then she felt his hand on her waist, pulling her closer to him. His lips moved in rhythm with hers and the rest of the world melted into oblivion. For the first time since she had met Ron and Harry, she felt safe. She felt like nothing would ever hurt her.

"If you two would be so kind, I would like this Library to myself. It is, after all, lesson time." The loud voice of Madam Prince bought them back to reality. They broke apart, not taking their eyes off of one another.

"I'm sorry Madam, but I have to do this." He turned to Madam Prince, taking his wand out. "Obliviate." He grabbed Hermione and dashed into the corridor. She knew what he had done. He had wiped her memory. "Hermione, we have to keep this a secret. We can't tell anyone or they'll try to come between us, but I think that I love you." She gasped for air. He felt the same way for her as she felt for him!

"I love you, too." She blurted out. "But can I tell Ginny because I've kind of told her that I have a crush on you."

"Okay… Wait! You had a crush on me? Since when?"

"Only since yesterday, but I haven't been able to get you out of my head since then." She giggled slightly at how pathetic it sounded. She stopped giggling when she realise how close they were.

"Hermione?" He said softly. "Will you… be my… girlfriend?" The suddenness of all that was happening hit her. She smiled at how quickly her life was changing around and nodded slowly. This time it was him that leaned in. Their lips met for only a few seconds before he turned around and ran off into the castle.

Unable to move for a few seconds, she thought about what had just happened. He had told her he loved her and she'd said it back, just like in the movies. At that moment she realised that the corridors were completely empty. Oh no! Lessons! She ran off towards her class, replaying the last twenty minutes of her life in her head. She was in love. That much was clear.

Unsure of what to do, she knocked on the door of the transfiguration classroom. At the second her fist met the door, it flew open. A scowling face glared out at her from inside the classroom.

"Twelve minuets, Miss Granger!" Shouted Professor McGonagall, disgusted by the behaviour of her star pupil. "Where in heaven's name have you been?!"

Her hung low in shame, she grumbled to the floor "I was in the library and I lost track of time." It wasn't exactly a lie, just a twisted truth.

An hour later, at lunch, she grabbed Ginny and pulled her up to the common room. As sure as she knew the cost was clear she began to blurt out everything that happened. When she told her that she had kissed him, Ginny almost fainted. Her jaw dropped to infinity. "You kissed him!" Was all she could manage to say, but it was enough for Hermione to blush. "Oh my god! Wow! Hermione I- I can't believe it! Your first kiss! With Malfoy!"

That evening, when they went to dinner, Hermione wasn't paying attention to Harry's gossiping or Ron's terrible jokes. She had all of her attention aimed at the Slytherin table. At the blonde haired boy that she had hated for so long. For twenty minutes they smiled at each other, sending romantic gestures when no one was looking. After dinner, her grabbed her and dragged her into the shadow of a secret passage.

"Hermione, I've never felt this way about anyone! No matter what's happening around me, my thoughts always come back to you. I'm mad about you. I've been trying to tell myself that you're a mudblood, but now I'm thinking that, maybe, I don't care." He whispered in her ear. "I've felt more love in a day than I have my whole life. You make me complete. I can't imagine my life without you in it. Only a day. One day has changed everything I've ever known. I love you Hermione." He loved her! This was no set up. No joke. This was the real thing! This is how sweet love tastes. Now she knew that she could never turn back.


End file.
